Greg Lucas on the TBHOF Inductions

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The post-season can now get underway as fans in Boston celebrate. We’ll get started soon, but today, Guest Blogger Greg Lucas of Fox Sports Net takes a look at the upcoming Texas Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions.

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Early next month six new members will be inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame during the annual dinner now held in Houston. Former Astros Cesar Cedeno and Phil Garner will join native Texan Don Baylor, former Texas Ranger star Juan Gonzalez, long time Negro League star, the late Willie Wells and Houston sportscasting icon Anita Martini, also deceased, will make up the class of 2007.

It will be my pleasure to sub for “Mr. Houston Baseball MC”, Milo Hamilton in handling the proceedings for the third time. I was fortunate to MC two of the dinners when the TBHOF was still based in Arlington- Fort Worth.

Having attended or been a part of at least ten of the induction dinners I highly recommend fans consider buying tickets and being part of the show. And they can be part since the Hall of Famers are very accessible after the dinner concludes. Plus there are silent and live auction items that always are of interest. Throw in “lucky ticket” give aways , the good food at the J.W. Marriott and it’s a good evening.

Tickets can be purchased through the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame web site or by calling George Scroggins at (713) 408 1044. Activity will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, November 9 with dinner at 7. This year it is expected the program will be finished by about 9:30. The J.W. Marriott on Westheimer just across from the Houston Galleria will be the home for the dinner again.

People often ask, “Where is the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame?” And the answer is, “There is no facility now.” That is the goal, however, and memorabilia is already being stored for the day a real Hall of Fame and Museum can be opened.

Another question often asked is, “How does one qualify for induction?” In a nutshell anyone who was born in Texas or played in Texas is eligible. A career of at least ten years which may or may not have all been in the major leagues is desirable. For instance, in the glory days of the minor leagues and before Texas had big league teams a number of players spent years in the Texas League and became local or statewide legends. Many of them are Texas Baseball Hall of Famers. So are the greatest college coaches in Texas history like Cliff Gustafson of Texas, Wayne Graham of San Jacinto JC and Rice plus several others.

The Texas Baseball Hall of Fame recognizes media and broadcasting longevity and skill. Milo Hamilton, Mark Holtz, Eric Nadel, Bill Brown, yours truly, Mickey Herskowitz, Anita Martini (the first female ever admitted to a baseball clubhouse who goes in this year), Gene Elston, and many others have been honored.

Those who have given great service to the game such as long time owners, GMs and other club officials are Texas Baseball Hall of Famers.

The three Texas natives who were members of the All American Girls Baseball League during World War II are members. So are (or will be) every member of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame honored for their Negro League exploits who were Texans.

In 2004 Dr. Bill McCurdy took over the operation of the Hall from the late Howard Green of Fort Worth during the latter stages of Howard’s life and moved the operation from North Texas where it had been formed by the late George Scheppes in 1978.

The membership roles include the all time greats like Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell plus some of the long time fan favorites like Jim Sundberg, Alan Ashby and Rusty Greer.

Unlike Cooperstown, players can be and often are inducted while still active once they pass the ten year major league career mark. Before standards were raised to enforce the ten year rule, Clemens was inducted in 1992 after only six years in the majors. And, by the way, though he was not born in Texas, he was deemed eligible at that time thanks to his work at the University of Texas. In that same 1992 class current Astro manager Cecil Cooper was honored for his great career in Boston and Milwaukee.

Nominations are accepted from any Texas baseball fan. The Texas Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors determines the final list. Once nominated, that name remains in nomination. Those living who are selected must be available to attend the dinner to be inducted although once selected induction is guaranteed at some point. This year, for instance, Frank Robinson, a native of Beaumont, was selected but had to pull out of attending. His induction will be moved to a future date when he can be in attendance.

While the goal someday is a real Hall and Museum, a web site already exists. Click on Texas Baseball Hall of Fame to see the site. At the site the full listing of members can be found. However, it is still a work in progress adding the bios and information. In fact volunteers are always welcome to help fill in the gaps.

The dinner itself has several goals. First, to honor baseball greats from Texas, second to raise awareness of the existence of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame with the hope that in the near future a brick and mortar location can house the names on the induction lists plus memorabilia. Third, the available proceeds from the dinner go into a scholarship fund for high school baseball and/or softball players who plan on continuing their education.

Personally, I am looking forward to this year’s affair…always very well planned and staged by George Scroggins. Bring your camera and autograph books. Once the dinner is concluded the inductees and other notables who will be in attendance will be available. The dinner can handle only about a third as many diners as the annual Mid Winter Baseball Banquet in Houston so access is much easier.

Hope to see many of you there…please stop by and say hello.

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Greg Lucas of FSN-Houston is field level commentator for Houston Astros games on television. 2008 will be his 14th season affiliated with theAstros after serving as a TV play by play announcer for the Texas Rangers for 9 seasons. He will be MCing the annual Mid-Winter Baseball Banquet on Jan 17, filling in for veteran radio voice Milo Hamilton who is recovering from surgery.

Greg, a question on one of the former honorees. Do you ever talk to Mickey Herskowitz? He is the most talented sportswriter that ever set pen to paper and I have really missed him these last few years. After his son passed away, he wrote a column for the Chronicle and it sounded like he was planning on writing a few free lance columns from time to time but that was the last I heard of him. I really wish he would grace us with his words from time to time. He could write a column on semi-professional thumb wrestling and make it sound like Shakespeare. Anyway, if you ever do talk to him, tell him that we miss him.

Thanks for the info on the banquet. Can’t make it this year … maybe next year. Keep up the good work on the Astros games. I really enjoy your knowledge and commentary.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Howard Green once. He was a huge baseball fan. His Abilene Blue Sox team from the late 1940s is still listed as one of the great minor league teams of all time.

When I interviewed Howard, he was still trying to get a minor league team back into Abilene, something that, because of the way the town focuses on its high school teams and its three private colleges, won’t happen any time soon.

But Howard loved baseball and refused to give up even until the end.

Wish I could be at the ceremonies (alas, I live in Minnesota now). But I still check up regularly on Texas baseball.

Of course, I love the Astros. I pity the Rangers. And I have been keeping track of Texas Tech baseball because of Chris Hall, who went to Cooper High School in Abilene. Actually, the Red Raiders have a few former Abilenians on their squad, but Hall seems to have the most promise at the college level. If he could sprout past his 5-9 frame, I’d give him a shot at being a legit pro player. (And he’s a middle infielder, which the Astros will still probably need in five years when Hall is ready for the Major Leagues.)

Thanks for all the info Greg (and Chip) – having a place to honor all the great baseball players that hail from or played in what has always been a football state is a truely worthy cause. The fact that there is so much more fan involvement (versus Cooperstown) is also a great feature.